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Jobs Up, Unemployment Down in Minnesota

Thursday, August 20th, 2009 at 8:25 am

ST. PAUL –Minnesota employers added 10,300 jobs in July, the state’s first monthly employment gains since August 2008, according to figures released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

The state’s unemployment rate fell 0.3 percent from June to a seasonally adjusted 8.1 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate in July was 9.4 percent.

“This is encouraging news, particularly because the job gains were widespread across industry sectors,” said DEED Commissioner Dan McElroy. “We are hopeful that this is the beginning of an upward trend for our economy. As always, we continue our efforts to help businesses grow and to help people find jobs in Minnesota.”

Eight of the state’s 11 industry sectors gained employment during the month, led by leisure and hospitality, which added 3,900 jobs. Other gains were posted by government (up 2,800), manufacturing (up 1,700), professional and business services (up 1,700), education and health services (up 1,200), construction (up 700), logging and mining (up 200), and financial activities (up 100).

The agency also announced the results of its second quarter job vacancy survey, which showed 31,400 job vacancies in the state between April and June 2009, down 39.4 percent from the same period a year ago. The survey showed that there were 7.7 unemployed people for each vacancy statewide during the quarter. The survey also indicates that over 95 percent of Minnesota employers expect to increase or maintain current employment levels through the end of the year.